A sequel to David Fincher’s The Social Network wasn’t always the most obvious thing, just as a movie about the origins of Facebook wasn’t obviously a good idea in the first place. Released in 2010, the film was not only a massive $224M hit, but it won three Oscars, was generally considered one of the best movies of that year, and was led an iconic performance by Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. Not having Eisenberg return for Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up, The Social Reckoning, was a big blow to overcome, but in the first teaser we can see how Jeremy Strong looks in the role.
Written and directed by Sorkin, The Social Reckoning is seen as a companion to The Social Network, dealing with the fallout of decisions made by Zuckerberg, revealed in leaked documents that led to the Wall Street Journal’s exposé in 2021.
The film stars Strong as Zuckerberg, with Oscar winner Mikey Madison as whistleblower Frances Haugen, and Jeremy Allen White as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz.
Also in the cast are Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen, Bill Burr, Gbenga Akinnagbe, and Anna Lambe.
Strong has clearly undergone an interesting transformation, especially the hair, to look more like Zuckerberg. It’s even more radical than what he went through to become Roy Cohn in The Apprentice. I’m not 100% sure that it works, but then I felt the same way about Eisenberg and look how that worked out.
SYNOPSIS: A companion piece to the hit film The Social Network, Sorkin’s original screenplay is based on the events that gave rise to the Wall Street Journal’s shocking exposé The Facebook Files. The film is inspired by the true story of how Frances Haugen (Madison), a young Facebook engineer, enlists the help of Jeff Horwitz (White), a Wall Street Journal reporter, to go on a dangerous journey that ends up blowing the whistle on the social network’s most guarded secrets.
Sony Pictures will release The Social Reckoning in theaters on October 9th.
I’m happy to offer DC area readers the chance to attend a free early screening of Pixar’s Toy Story 5! The film reunites Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the gang as they face the threat of new technology!
SYNOPSIS: The toys are back in Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” and this time around it’s Toy meets Tech. Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs get exponentially harder when they go head to head with this all-new threat to playtime.
The screening takes place on Saturday, June 13th at 11:00AM at the Look Cinema in Tysons Corner! If you’d like to attend, simply RSVP at the Gofobo site here. Please remember, all screenings are first come first served and you’ll need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
Does the world at large deserve to know about the existence of extraterrestrials? The question has been asked a lot lately, as the current Presidential administration uses the idea of disclosure as a means of distraction. Perhaps no filmmaker has been more interested in the subject of extraterrestrials than Steven Spielberg, and Disclosure Day brings him right back into his wheelhouse. It’s the kind of large-scale, adventuresome summer epic that few can do better than Spielberg, and even when weighed down by heavy themes and sketchy plotting, there’s no question that it will have you on the edge of your seat.
A reunion between Spielberg and writer David Koepp (Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds), Disclosure Day doesn’t waste any time getting right to the action. Josh O’Connor stars as Kellner, a seemingly normal guy who works as a cybersecurity expert for a shady company called Wardex. Their mission is to keep the secret of extraterrestrials from the public, working outside of the federal government to such a degree they seem to have gone rogue. Kellner is a potential whistleblower, who has stolen top secret files and alien tech, with plans to reveal them to the world. But he’s lured into a trap by Colin Firth’s Noah Scanlon, the head of Wardex who has kidnapped Kellner’s girlfriend, Jane, played by Flora & Son star Eve Hewson.
Meanwhile, Emily Blunt is introduced as Kansas City weatherperson Margaret Fairchild. She seems sort of adrift in life, constantly moving from city to city, trying to find what feels right. Wyatt Russell is her beleaguered musician boyfriend, who is rightfully freaked out when Margaret suddenly starts spouting new languages she’s never learned before, and muttering alien gibberish on air. This puts her in the crosshairs of Wardex, but also in the orbit of Kellner, as the two seem to be linked.
Did I mention that all of this is happening under the threat of nuclear annihilation? There’s a lot happening in Disclosure Day, which takes on the shape of many different kinds of movies along the way. If this were 30 years ago, Spielberg and Koepp probably would’ve centered the story on kids. It’s wholesome enough that they wouldn’t have to change all that much. Maybe loosen up on some of the more dangerous set pieces, such as a trainwreck sequence that is pretty scary, but also very exciting. Some of the heftier themes, such as how the knowledge of aliens could shake one’s faith, are only touched upon softly then unfortunately dropped. But the pace rarely drops, with the film becoming a cat-and-mouse chase film much of the way. Few can carry breakneck momentum better than Spielberg, and he moves us from action sequence to action sequence seamlessly, aided by another fantastic, swelling score by John Williams.
The idea seems to be that if the existence of aliens is brought to the world, it would unify humanity in a way that we’ve never seen. Well, never seen unless you’ve watched Independence Day, I suppose. It’s not the boldest idea, but framing it as a Snowden-esque whistleblower thriller is pretty clever, and fits in with the moment that we are living in. Spielberg and Koepp also tease the polar opposite idea, which is also compelling, that the reveal of such information could push the world over the edge into chaos. Koepp, who also wrote Spielberg’s unfortunate Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, has a tendency towards corny dialogue and excessive use of exposition. Unfortunately, Colman Domingo, who plays a former Wardex employee and Kellner’s guide, is the one saddled with this problem more than others.
O’Connor is reliably strong as Kellner, who is sort of the Fox Mulder of this story. He’s fully committed to his mission and the belief that humans must know about the presence of extraterrestrials. Blunt’s character has the greatest evolution. At first we see her as just an ambitious wannabe celeb, with her role slightly more comedic and off to the side. But she really takes over in the final act, and delivers the emotional coup-de-grace that we’ve come to expect from a Spielberg movie.
There’s a reason why every Spielberg movie feels like a major event. Nobody else makes movies like him that are so full of heart, and always have something in them for everyone to enjoy. Disclosure Day, while far from perfect, is another one of those movies that is uniquely Spielberg, and we need him now more than ever.
Ari Aster has directed three films since his breakout horror, Hereditary, in 2018. And while Midsommar, Beau is Afraid, and his pandemic political thriller Eddington all have their fans, people still want more of what is still considered his best film. Well, Aster has revealed that he’s written a Hereditary prequel, but is unsure it will ever get made.
Aster revealed the news during a Q&A at The American Cinematheque, stating that the timing never feels quite right…
“I wrote a prequel to this,” Aster said. “It never feels like the right time. It’s a prequel, not a sequel, so I don’t know where this goes.”
Hereditary was a huge hit for A24, earning $90M at the box office. It’s by far Aster’s most successful film, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him return to it. That said, he’s already lined up his next project, Scapegoat, with Scarlett Johansson set to star. So if he does plan a return, it’ll have to be some time after that. [GoldDerby]
With production gearing up to launch later this year, Sony Pictures and Playstation Productions’ adaptation of the popular Helldivers video game has suffered a major setback. Jason Momoa, who was set to star in the film directed by Justin Lin, has left the project for unknown reasons.
The search is on for a new star to replace Momoa, so there’s no fear that it’s dead or anything like that.
Helldivers follows the titular shock troopers of a totalitarian government, armed with advanced weaponry and charged with wiping out alien threats to make way for colonization by the fascist Super Earth regime. Gary Dauberman is writing the screenplay.
Momoa has been busy shooting A Minecraft Movie Squared in New Zealand. There’s a pretty good chance he’ll get called up to play Lobo in James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow, which I’m betting explains his exit from Helldivers. Just a hunch.
Coming up for Momoa is a hefty slate that includes Supergirl,Street Fighter, and Dune: Part Three.
Helldivers is still set to hit theaters on November 10th 2027. [Deadline]
Who do you call when the world’s greatest detective goes missing? Well, you keep it in the family, of course. Sherlock Holmes’ younger sister is on the case in Enola Holmes 3, with Millie Bobby Brown returning to the role in Netflix’s popular mystery franchise.
Brown is back as Enola Holmes, ever breaking the fourth wall as her personal and professional ambitions collide. Henry Cavill also returns as her legendary older brother, Sherlock, who appears to be in quite a bit of trouble this time; with Helena Bonham Carter as their mother, Eudoria, and Louis Partridge as Enola’s potential husband, Tewkesbury. We will also see an expanded role for Himesh Patel as Dr. Watson, introduced at the end of the previous film as Sherlock’s roommate. Sheron Duncan-Brewster also returns as the Sherlocks’ equally brilliant nemesis, as Professor Moriarty.
Taking over as director for the first time is Philip Barantini (of Netflix hit Adolescence), working from a script by Jack Thorne. Thorne has written every film in the franchise so far, adapted from Nancy Springer’s The Enola Holmes Mysteries books.
SYNOPSIS: Adventure chases detective Enola Holmes to Malta, where personal and professional dreams collide on a case more tangled and treacherous than any she has faced before.
It’s not right to say that Jem and the Holograms is another ’80s toy/cartoon property getting a second chance at life. No, this would be just the latest, but arguably the most promising as it will be led by Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.
A new Jem and the Holograms live-action series is in the works from Amazon MGM Studios and Hasbro Entertainment, along with Nolan and Joy’s Kilter Films studio. Nolan and Joy have worked with Amazon already as exec-producers on the hit series, Fallout. At this point, they are not expected to be involved on the creative side, but that could change.
Jem and the Holograms was “truly outrageous” in the ’80s and one of the most popular cartoons and toy lines, beating both Transformers and He-Man. It followed record company exec Jerrica Benton and her alter ego, Jem, created with the help of a holographic computer called Synergy. Jem was leader of the band Jem and the Holograms, and they would do battle with rival bands The Misfits and The Stingers.
Wicked director Jon M. Chu brought Jem to the big screen in a live-action movie in 2015 that was not only panned by critics and fans, it had historically one of the worst box office debuts ever. So this is a brave effort by all to try and reinvigorate this property at a time when the market is saturated with nostalgic remakes and reboots. [Deadline]
20th Century Studios has dropped a fresh trailer for Ridley Scott’s anticipated post-apocalyptic thriller, The Dog Stars. Fresh off his Oscar-nominated supporting performance in Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi takes on one of his first true lead roles in a feature, starring alongside Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong.
Based on the Peter Heller novel, adapted by The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith and Christopher Wilkinson, The Dog Stars is a story that Scott feels a close personal connection with, as we recently learned. At 88 years old, Scott hasn’t slowed down in the least with recent films Gladiator II, Napoleon, The Last Duel, and House of Gucci. No matter what you think of those projects, he’s still the director behind iconic sci-fi films Alien and Blade Runner, so when he tackles this genre you have to take notice.
Set in the aftermath of a global apocalypse, The Dog Stars features Elordi as Hig, a pilot who has a single-engine Cessna he calls The Beast, a loyal blue heeler mutt named Jasper … and not much else. The dog and the plane are Hig’s version of singing “Old McDonald”—small comforts to keep him going when all seems lost.
This looks pretty good to me, and possibly like one of Scott’s better recent efforts. The Dog Stars hits theaters on August 28th, capping off the summer blockbuster season.
It’s a busy year for Brad Pitt, following the critical and box office success of F1, which might be getting a sequel. Coming up is David Fincher’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood spinoff, The Adventures of Cliff Booth over at Netflix. And following that is Heart of the Beast, a survival adventure film that reunites Pitt with Fury director David Ayer.
GQ has dropped our first looks at Heart of the Beast, which stars Pitt as an ex-Navy SEAL who, along with his retired combat dog, attempts a return to civilization after a catastrophic plane crash in the dangerous Alaskan wilderness.
The script is by Cameron Alexander, and was on the Black List of best unproduced screenplays.
Joining Pitt in the cast are JK Simmons and Canadian Inuk actress Anna Lambe who will have a role in Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning.
“He’s a beast,” Ayer describes Pitt. “He was vulnerable and exposed himself in a way that I haven’t seen before. A constant theme from people who have seen the film is just how raw, believable, and profound his performance is.”
Paramount Pictures will release Heart of the Beast in theaters on September 25th.
This…was inevitable. With video game movies more popular than ever, and Capcom’s Street Fighter set to be huge later this year, it was inevitable that one of the fighting game’s most enduring rivals would get its shot. No, I’m not talking about Mortal Kombat, I’m talking about SNK’s Fatal Fury, which is now being developed into a feature film led by Blade writer David Goyer.
That’s right, Terry Bogard, Joe Higashi, Geese Howard and all of South Town are coming to the big screen. Goyer, along with The Arena‘s Erik Feig, and Robert Kirkman‘s Skybound Entertainment are teaming up on a Fatal Fury movie. They will also develop other SNK hits such as Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, and side-scrolling shooter Metal Slug for TV, film, anime, and manga.
Goyer, best known for writing Blade, Man of Steel, Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, and creating the hit series Foundation, will write Fatal Fury. Meanwhile, franchise villain Geese Howard is at the center of a “Godather”-esque movie being written by Grant Singer.
This is a lot to take in. SNK and Capcom are more like distinguished competition than actual rivals, with their games crossing over on many occasions. The only concern I have is that there seems to be limited space for success. The Mortal Kombat films have only done modest business, and it’s up in the air how Street Fighter will perform. Fatal Fury doesn’t have the name recognition of those other games, which could limit its upside. For me, as a fan of all of these games, the more the merrier until they can all crossover with one another in an epic battle royale. [THR]
